What's Up With Technical Support and E-Mail?

I'm really baffled that vendors of all sorts accept e-mail support requests but take days to return and answer them. Not only is e-mail a great way to communicate when you don't have time to hang on the phone, it's a truly great way for a vendor to save money. The person responding just needs a computer, access to the company's knowledgebase and a data connection to the Internet. No office space, no free coffee, and home workers cost less than on-premise workers. Distance workers are willing to accept less money than their commuting cousins because they have the privilege and convenience of working from home. In fact, the savings can be even greater since they don't need to be in the same state as their employer so they can hire people at the lowest possible wage differential. It costs less to hire someone in Boise than in New York, but they're just as trainable and just as smart.

So how come e-mail technical support is so poor? Why is it that at worst it takes an hour to get a technical support rep on the phone and it takes days to get one to return an e-mail? These are people who've asked us to purchase their product, and when we try and contact them in a manner they should be excited about, they ignore us. What am I missing?

The problem gets even worse with shareware or freeware. In this case the phrase caveat emptor comes to mind. If a developer gives out their e-mail address for technical support questions that aren't answered by FAQs or other documentation, why don't they answer e-mail support questions from your users? Really, what gives?

I sell on Ebay, and when I get an e-mail with a question about an item, I answer it immediately. Not only am I motivated to make the sale and get their money, but I want to demonstrate that I'm acting responsibly and professionally and that if they buy from me they can have a certain level of trust that the item is what I say it is. When software companies and shareware developers don't answer e-mail, it just indicates a level of disdain or unprofessionalism. Either way, I scratch them off of my vendor list for any future purchases.

If you've had the same experience with vendors, maybe you need to do the same.